Vehicle body repair often involves replacing damaged parts with new parts rather than repairing the damaged items. Sometimes the cost of repair exceeds the cost of a new part replacement. Other times, however, repair of a broken part may be far less expensive and function just as well if not better than the new part. If the repaired part is in a location where it cannot be seen, the fact that it has been repaired will not be a problem from an appearance point of view.
Damage to headlight assemblies is a good example of the need for a method of repairing the top upstanding mounting tab on the lens assembly which is typically broken off or rendered inoperative when body damage involves the headlight assembly. The list price for replacement of the complete headlight assembly, as an example on some General Motors cars, ranges from $180 to $230.
Thus, what is needed is a simple and inexpensive method of repairing the upstanding mounting tab on the lens assembly so that the entire lens assembly can be reused.